The Defining Factor of Darkness - The willingness to impose one's will upon another Being
Jerry Sandusky, former assistant coach, Penn State University, convicted on 45 of 48 counts of child molestation/sexual abuse.
From the beginning, this case didn't interest me and I didn't follow it other than to hear a few quips from t.v. anchors as to the latest news.
But last night, after watching Sandusky's verdict being handed down, the reaction of the crowds on the steps of the courthouse after hearing Sandusky was GUILTY and then watching Sandusky in handcuffs being walked toward a waiting police car, like some stone-faced statue, having to endure a police offiicer bending over to buckle him in his seat belt well, it finally sunk in.
Unfathomable just how long this guy had abused kids, just how long this guy had managed to get away with acting out his dark side, even though there were warning signs being totally ignored.
His wife appeared as if made of some piece of stone, also. Dutifully, like back in the 40s, she smiled politely as she held his hand. The two of them walking up the steps of the court house to hear the verdict (and I believe, in her heart of hearts, this man she thought she knew, would be found innocent, not guilty) after all, how could he be? She had lived with him for many years, had been intimate with him. This man she was married to was a good and decent father and husband.
How cunning Evil is; how easy it is for Evil to mask its true face. No wonder on this planet we have the powerful few who can control the many--dictators and tyrants and thugs and despots and perpetrators of so much misery, so much heartache, so much pain.
After the verdict was rendered, Sandusky's wife will now have to come to grips with what he was doing, behind her back, without her knowledge, to all those young victims who had no power over his covert, overt and gut-wrenching acts. I wonder if she will opt for a lifetime of denial rather than face up to the truth that her husband was a monster?
Inside all of us there is a monster waiting to be unleashed. We all have the capability of doing bad and harmful things.
Is it a choice we are confronted with? Then why is it that some run with doing harm while others hold back?
Evil lurks among us and is always on the prowl for the weakest in us, the weakest of us. It wears many faces and is deceptive as it noiselessly hides in the shadows and lurks in the far corners of our minds.
But when light is radiated upon it, it quickly recoils in horror, its yellow eyes piercing through us like a frozen icicle as it hastily slithers away.
We have an ongoing War on Terror. It is all about acting vigilant against those individuals who willingly did the entire world grave harm on September 1, 2001 but also against those who still wish to do us harm.
Could we take that one step further and encompass all those persons who have bowed low to evil, silently assigning themselves to this pernicious poison, thus granting a conceptual union between themselves and it along with their mutual consent for it to become the major controlling factor in their lives, as also being included in this ongoing War on Terror?
I not only think we bear a responsibility to do this but also an underlying obligation to do so.
Evil has many faces: an assistant coach of some prominent university, the janitor who tidies up the school room after the children have left for the day who keeps a list of those young ones he finds most appealing, the neighbor who watches child pornography incessantly on his home computer or the terrorist from some far off land.
We are all behind the eight-ball on this issue as the only time we seem to be able to peer into the face of evil is after the evil has been done. It's very rare that we are able to throttle evil before it unmasks and unleashes.
We find a small child's body hidden under some fallen leaves; the cops break into a home in which the father has just murdered an entire family; a rape victim is violated so horrifically that not only is her body splintered, but her mind, also.
We all are all victims of evil; the evil doer along with the rest of us who have to endure the excrutiatingly horrific, haunting and vivid details of the crime.
But how do you spot evil? How do you stop it?
There is no easy answer but maybe a few thoughts. And it does not involve becoming a vigilante nation but becoming more vigilant.
Psychologists have linked abuse with crime whether it be a youngster that delights in mutilating helpless animals or someone (usually at a young age) that is sexually molested repeatedly by a father a mother, a close neighbor.
This behaviour then leads to more violent criminal behaviour in later years, alcoholism and drug use.
Do you agree with me that we all have a moral duty, a moral obligation, a moral responsibility, to become a little more observant in the little things that can add up to the big things--in order that we live in a more peaceful and safe world...together?
I think I have a lot of company out there on this one (those of you who agree with this) and Thank All of You.
Jerry Sandusky, former assistant coach, Penn State University, convicted on 45 of 48 counts of child molestation/sexual abuse.
From the beginning, this case didn't interest me and I didn't follow it other than to hear a few quips from t.v. anchors as to the latest news.
But last night, after watching Sandusky's verdict being handed down, the reaction of the crowds on the steps of the courthouse after hearing Sandusky was GUILTY and then watching Sandusky in handcuffs being walked toward a waiting police car, like some stone-faced statue, having to endure a police offiicer bending over to buckle him in his seat belt well, it finally sunk in.
Unfathomable just how long this guy had abused kids, just how long this guy had managed to get away with acting out his dark side, even though there were warning signs being totally ignored.
His wife appeared as if made of some piece of stone, also. Dutifully, like back in the 40s, she smiled politely as she held his hand. The two of them walking up the steps of the court house to hear the verdict (and I believe, in her heart of hearts, this man she thought she knew, would be found innocent, not guilty) after all, how could he be? She had lived with him for many years, had been intimate with him. This man she was married to was a good and decent father and husband.
How cunning Evil is; how easy it is for Evil to mask its true face. No wonder on this planet we have the powerful few who can control the many--dictators and tyrants and thugs and despots and perpetrators of so much misery, so much heartache, so much pain.
After the verdict was rendered, Sandusky's wife will now have to come to grips with what he was doing, behind her back, without her knowledge, to all those young victims who had no power over his covert, overt and gut-wrenching acts. I wonder if she will opt for a lifetime of denial rather than face up to the truth that her husband was a monster?
Inside all of us there is a monster waiting to be unleashed. We all have the capability of doing bad and harmful things.
Is it a choice we are confronted with? Then why is it that some run with doing harm while others hold back?
Evil lurks among us and is always on the prowl for the weakest in us, the weakest of us. It wears many faces and is deceptive as it noiselessly hides in the shadows and lurks in the far corners of our minds.
But when light is radiated upon it, it quickly recoils in horror, its yellow eyes piercing through us like a frozen icicle as it hastily slithers away.
We have an ongoing War on Terror. It is all about acting vigilant against those individuals who willingly did the entire world grave harm on September 1, 2001 but also against those who still wish to do us harm.
Could we take that one step further and encompass all those persons who have bowed low to evil, silently assigning themselves to this pernicious poison, thus granting a conceptual union between themselves and it along with their mutual consent for it to become the major controlling factor in their lives, as also being included in this ongoing War on Terror?
I not only think we bear a responsibility to do this but also an underlying obligation to do so.
Evil has many faces: an assistant coach of some prominent university, the janitor who tidies up the school room after the children have left for the day who keeps a list of those young ones he finds most appealing, the neighbor who watches child pornography incessantly on his home computer or the terrorist from some far off land.
We are all behind the eight-ball on this issue as the only time we seem to be able to peer into the face of evil is after the evil has been done. It's very rare that we are able to throttle evil before it unmasks and unleashes.
We find a small child's body hidden under some fallen leaves; the cops break into a home in which the father has just murdered an entire family; a rape victim is violated so horrifically that not only is her body splintered, but her mind, also.
We all are all victims of evil; the evil doer along with the rest of us who have to endure the excrutiatingly horrific, haunting and vivid details of the crime.
But how do you spot evil? How do you stop it?
There is no easy answer but maybe a few thoughts. And it does not involve becoming a vigilante nation but becoming more vigilant.
Psychologists have linked abuse with crime whether it be a youngster that delights in mutilating helpless animals or someone (usually at a young age) that is sexually molested repeatedly by a father a mother, a close neighbor.
This behaviour then leads to more violent criminal behaviour in later years, alcoholism and drug use.
Do you agree with me that we all have a moral duty, a moral obligation, a moral responsibility, to become a little more observant in the little things that can add up to the big things--in order that we live in a more peaceful and safe world...together?
I think I have a lot of company out there on this one (those of you who agree with this) and Thank All of You.
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